8 Responses to magic cape

….what an immense, colossal, disparaging waste of time. the benefits to society, the environment or even personal growth that could have been accomplished in the hours that were consumed in this foolishness is shockingly sorrowful. look at his face. god what an utter oaf.

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If someone can find it, post a link to the Colbert Report episode where he’s at the Hayden with Tyson, and Colbert licks an iron meteorite (on public display, that thousands of tourists are allowed to touch, so it’s got more germs than a subway handrail.) It may be the only moment ever caught on camera where Tyson completely loses his composure for a few seconds.

Came from him giving percentages on what he thought would happen. They came out to 130 percent or something like that. He kept denying that he actually gave those numbers, and when shown the replay, he said: “I reject your reality and substitute my own”

This is actually an excellent likeness of Genie Scott. Met her about six weeks ago @ SkeptiCAL … A wonderfully nice and highly intelligent lady with an excellent way of telling the creationists that they’re full of shit.

25 Responses to Skeptic Trumps – II

ok penn and teller is a pretty cool guy but do we need to really hype up a c-rate ironic sci-fi writer and someone who dedicates their life to debunking uri geller?

Debunking uri geller is like debunking xena warrior princes no one ever thought it was real just interesting in a weird way

letterman has pretty much floated geller’s career since i was born but it’s mostly because letterman knows it’s funny to make geller look like a crazy asshole. letterman should be writing the fucking book

James Randi is fucking awesome, he fights ‘woo’ and has offered up a full million dollars to anyone that can demonstrate psychic or otherwordly abilities and prove themselves: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Randi_Foundation

Sorry, tiki, but the million dollar challenge is bullshit. Penn & Teller could do a show on it, that’s how bullshit it is. The qualifications needed to even apply for it are bullshit, the money you need to pay out of pocket to apply is bullshit, and the restrictions and conditions he puts on it are bullshit.

Aside from that, the JREF (James Randi Educational Foundation) Forums are bullshit, too. Nothing but a place for pseudo-intellectuals and wanna-be scientists to pretend they know more than anyone else. All anyone does there is wait for someone to show up with a question about something unusual and then they all stand around and verbally stone them while patting each other on the back.

My favorite is when they accuse someone of using anecdote as evidence, and then in the next thread use an anecdote to tell someone how wrong they are.

“To claim, one must agree to a protocol for testing, must show in a preliminary test before a foundation representative that they are likely to succeed, and finally make a demonstration in a formal test in front of independent witnesses.[9] To date, over 1,000 applications have been filed but no one has passed a preliminary test, which is set up and agreed upon by both Randi and the applicant.”

that kind of bullshit? or maybe you were referring to the ADE651 bomb detection unit: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ADE651 that he railed against: www.internet-d.com/?p=6624 or perhaps you’re referring to him refusing to even consider testing breatharianism, in which people claim they can survive with no food or water, but just air

A million bucks that could feed and provide medical care to poor children (among many, many other good causes) is rotting away in an account waiting for someone to do something nigh-impossible… We get it, there’s no such thing as real ESP, now buy a dumpster baby a sandwich or something.

No, tiki. I wasn’t talking about any of that. The work he’s done regarding the bomb detection unit is admirable, and there are obviously some folks who he shouldn’t test due to safety issues. I’m also not discounting all the good things he’s done.

What I’m talking about is this:

“THIS OFFER IS NOT OPEN TO ANY AND ALL PERSONS. Before being considered as an applicant, the person applying must satisfy two conditions: First, he/she must have a “media presence,” which means having been published, written about, or known to the media in regard to his/her claimed abilities or powers. This can be established by producing articles, videos, books, or other published material that specifically addresses the person’s abilities. Second, he/she must produce at least one signed document from an academic who has witnessed the powers or abilities of the person, and will validate that these powers or abilities have been verified.”

This basically means that the only people he will be testing are obvious charlatans. People who seek the spotlight for fame & fortune. If there was someone on this earth who could demonstrate an unexplainable ability, who is to say that it’s someone who would want to be recognized by the media?

The reason for that rule is that psychologically unhinged people were trying to take the challenge and the challenge was getting bogged down with people in need of professional help. If you can get your story in a paper, and an academic vouches that you can do something that they can’t explain, you have been through a de facto screening process.

As for your claim that the real magic people are being secretive is an argument from ignorance. I don’t know that everybody in the world doesn’t have special powers, so you have to be right. What I can be certain of is that everybody who has been tested is a fake, and I can make the prediction that everybody tested in the future will likely be a fake as well.

Even better is that every person who takes the challenge agrees to all of the rules and requirements as being a fair test of their abilities. They believe that their skills work in a statistically significant manner.

I’d guess that anyone who wanted the million dollar prize is not interested in secrecy. They want to be legitimated. The gypsies that claim special psychic powers and some kind of magic may be secretive in the extreme, so they’re not going to allow their powers to be tested. Belief is important.
As fracked stated, it works as a screening process.

“If you are only skeptical, then no new ideas make it through to you. You become a crotchety old person convinced that nonsense is ruling the world. (There is, of course, much data to support you.) But every now and then, a new idea turns out to be on the mark, valid and wonderful. If you are too much in the habit of being skeptical about everything, you are going to miss or resent it, and either way you will be standing in the way of understanding and progress. ” – Carl Sagan

I really hate the “There probably is no god…” posters on buses. They are so weak. Be more decisive! Besides, religious people don’t worry so much, generally. They all KNOW they’re going to heaven.
Double fail.

i learned to play from this one fag, and basically played with him and his buddies. about a year into playing, was studying the rules and realized that there were two main phases, and also that you only draw one card in the draw step. we had been replenishing our hands back up to seven cards during this step.

me too. I officially stopped buying (not to say stopped playing by any means, just sworn off boosters) when the broke the game (well, not really, just changed the balance so you get about 150% as much power for any given amount of mana) in Lorwyn. I play a lot of Magic (not very well, mind you) with older cards, but I won’t play with or against anything post-Lorwyn. Of course, if they put things back to the way they used to be, there’s no way I’ll find out… I’ll think of something.

18 Responses to michael phelps ccg card

My mother has been walking around for a week spouting Mike Phelps facts like he’s Chuck Norris. She finally stopped when I added that if you put a phonograph needle to Mike Phelps’ nipple, it plays Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys.

I wish the Americans would win some obscure event like the weird ones with the guns and cross country skiing so everyone could try and pretend genuine interest in it without really understanding what it is.

Watching the Olympics and suddenly caring just showing how falsified most people’s interest in anything really is.

“soo why not be proud”
Because you or I didn’t do anything but coincidentally live in the same country as him. If he wasn’t American do you think it would all over the news?
I can understand why you might admire and respect someone for their achievements, but its sad that people are proud, as if they had some contribution to his success.

well being from the same country as him gives me a sense of pride and patriotism. but i do understand how people are acting “as if they had some contribution to his success.” but either way if someone does well to peak a whole countries interest in some sport that we really didnt care for then kudos. it can be annoying to hear about him like they were seasoned swimfans and followed him on his swimming circut, but im rootin for him cause he is pretty much the best swimmer ever. its like being annoied that people like lance armstrong cause hes good at bike riding. i may be missing the point. if i am please tell me.

Its in no way limited to America. Its just fucking stupid that its not that people are really into swimming and appreciate what he did. They just care that someone from their same geographic region did something better than someone from another geographic reason and suddenly he or she are a fucking hero. Retarded.

That’s why the Olympics are stupid. Its a big marketing machine and the events themselves mean sweet fuck all. I mean would anyone even be doing half this shit if they couldn’t get into the Olympics? Is there a big swimming circuit that’s followed in some countries that I don’t know about? Pro swimmers?

It’s all just dumb. Pumping your young with new enhancement drugs that you hope won’t be detected so they can beat the other drug monkeys so you can proudly proclaim “America has the fastest swimmer”. Congratulations. Your economy is still circling the bowl right now. Lets try and keep our priorities straight.